How To Easily Conjugate French Compound Tenses

Les Temps composés: Compound Tenses

Compound Tenses, or Temps composés, are any tenses that require the use of helper verbs (auxiliaries). The good news is that in French there are only two auxiliaries, être et avoir, and that once you've mastered their conjugation (see two previous lessons), you've basically mastered the conjugation of all compound tenses in one fell swoop.

The trick is to learn when to use être and when to use avoir.

The great majority of cases are covered by the use of avoir. In fact, it's easier to see it as the standard rule, with the use of être being limited to specific and well defined cases.

In a sentence, the use of a Compound Tense with avoir indicates two things:

1. Having a *completed* characteristic (defined by the participe passé of the main verb).
2. This characteristic has happened before the tense defined by the auxiliary

This may seem very complicated. Not so. It's in fact very simple, and I will illustrate it with some examples in English, then in French.

Examples: I have run. The characteristic here is that I have “run.” This “running” happened in the past (before the present tense defined by “have”). Similarly with I have eaten. The “eating” is a characteristic that applies to “I” and that occurred before the period/tense defined by “have.”

French is exactly the same. Thus:

(J'ai écrit/I have written) indicates that the characteristic of “having” written has occurred in the past.

The use of être to build compound tenses occurs with fewer verbs but is still very common. It is seen in well defined situations:

The voice/mode is passive. This is exactly similar to what happens in English.

Example:

Active voice -> I eat the apple./ I ate the apple.

Passive voice -> The apple is eaten by me./The apple was eaten by me.

Like English, the use of the passive voice/mode in French requires the use of a compound tense, and the use of the être auxiliary.

Example:

Active voice -> Je mange les pommes./Je mangeai les pommes.

-> I eat the apples./I ate the apples.

Passive voice -> Les pommes sont mangées par moi./Les pommes étaient mangées par moi.

-> The apples are eaten by me./The apples were eaten by me.

Any situation reflexive in nature, and with verbs that imply that reflexivity, meaning a self-referential frame, and by extension the passive mode/voice.

What does the above mean? The difference between an action and a state.

Example in English: I have climbed./I am up. They both mean an elevation. But where the first implies an action (the action of climbing), the second implies a state (the speaker is in an “up” position). The same applies in French, but the distinction is also applied to verbs that imply a reflexive frame.

Example in French:

J'ai escaladé la montagne. I have climbed the mountain (“I have climbed the mountain” implies the action of climbing).

Je suis monté sur l'arbre. I have climbed the tree (here “suis monté” implies the position of “being” on top of the tree at some point in the past, not the action).

The following verbs are always conjugated with être:

• Pronominal verbs: all the verbs with “se”, “me”, “te”, “nous”, “vous” (or abreviated forms ” m' “, ” t' “, or ” s' ” in front.” These (doubled) words (as we will see in more detail in a later lesson) in front of the verb always indicate reflexitivity. (e.g that the subject refers/acts upon him/herself/itself.)
• Verbs that imply reflexivity: accourir / to run to, advenir / to happen to, aller / to go, apparaître / to appear, arriver / to arrive, décéder / to die, demeurer / to stay at, devenir / to become, entrer / to enter, intervenir / to intervene, mourir / to die, naître / to be born, obvenir / to obtain, partir / to leave, parvenir / to reach, provenir / to come from, réapparaître / to reappear, redevenir / to become again, repartir / to go again, rester / to stay, retomber / to fall down, revenir / to come again, survenir / to happen, venir / to come

Examples:

Je suis allé au marché. / I have gone to the market.

Je suis né à New York. / I was born in New York.

Elles sont restées chez elles. / They stayed home.

• The following verbs, when they are used reflexively (when the verbs are used to describe a state and not an action):

Descendre / to climb down, monter / to climb up, passer / to pass, redescendre / to climb down again, remonter / to climb up again, rentrer / to reenter, repasser / to pass again, ressortir / to exit again, ressusciter / to resuscitate, retourner / to go back, sortir / to exit, tomber / to fall

Examples:

Le pilote a descendu son adversaire. (action) / The pilote downed his adversary.

Je suis descendu chez mon ami. (reflexive-state) / I have gone down to my friend's.

Le doctor a ressuscité le mourant. (action) / The doctor has rescuscitated the dying.

Les zombies sont réssuscités après trois jours. (reflexive-state) / The zombies are resuscitated after 3 days.

Once you understand the distinction between the use of avoir and être, you will be able to easily conjugate all compound tenses (provided of course you know the participe passé of the verb - watch out for irregular constructions).

Spelling Trickiness:

Compound tenses present a few additional difficulties in the spelling area: whereas the participles are completely invariant in English, this is not the case in French.

AVOIR: Normally, the participe passé following the auxiliary avoir is always invariant (no spelling change), EXCEPT when the object of the sentence is placed BEFORE the subject. In this case, and only this case, the participe passé's spelling is dependent on the object. Hard to explain, easy to illustrate:

Example: J'ai mangé les pommes. / I have eaten the apples. In this sentence, “J' / I” is the subject, “ai mangé / have eaten” the verb, and “les pommes / the apples” the object. The object is AFTER the subject, thus NO dependency, and NO spelling change.

But look at the following:

Les pommes que j'ai mangées. / The apples that I have eaten. In this case, the object (“que / that”, a pronoun that refers to the apples) is BEFORE the subject “j' / I.” In this case, there is dependency, and the spelling of the participe passé depends on the object (in this case “les pommes” which is feminine and plural). The spelling is thus altered from mangé to mangées.

Note that the object must be carefully identified (very carefully), especially if the clause is lengthy, to provide the correct spelling (again, only if it's placed before the subject).

ÊTRE: since être is reflexive, the participe passé and its spelling always (ALWAYS) depend on the subject.

Examples:

Il est parti. / He left.

Elle est partie. / She left. (the “e” is added to the feminine)

Conjugated Examples of Compound Tenses for all 3 Verbal groups:

Conjugation once understood is thus simple: conjugate the auxiliary to the correct tense, and add the correct participe passé.

Verbal group I, Verbs that end in -er conjugated with AVOIR

Compound tenses/Indicatif

Compound Tenses/Subjunctive

Impératif

Infinitif Passé: avoir garé

Gérondif Passé: ayant garé

Examples:

Passé composé: J'ai garé la voiture. / I have parked the car.

Plus que Parfait: J'avais mangé la pomme. / I had eaten the apple.

Passé Antérieur: Ils eurent sauté le fossé. / They had jumped the ditch.

Futur Antérieur: Nous aurons quitté le navire avant midi. / We will have left the ship before noon.

Subjonctif Passé: Les enfants ne t'ont pas remercié bien que tu leur aies acheté des cadeaux. / The children didn't thank you even though you had bought them gifts.

Subjonctif Plus que Parfait: Tout irait bien pourvu qu'elle eût amené les tickets. / Everything would go well provided she had brought the tickets.

Impératif: Ayez vidé les poubelles avant de vous coucher. / Have the trash cans emptied before going to bed.

Infinitif Passé: Elle a été punie pour avoir triché. / She was punished for having cheated.

Gérondif Passé: En ayant réservé des places à l'avance, Mireille s'était garanti la reconnaissance de son mari. / By having made reservations ahead of time, Mireille had guaranteed herself her husband's gratitude.

Verbal group I, Verbs that end in -er conjugated with ÊTRE (reflexive form of garer)

Compound tenses/Indicatif

Compound Tenses/Subjunctive

Impératif

Infinitif Passé: _s'_être garé(e)

Gérondif Passé: _s'_étant garé(e)

Examples:

Passé composé: Sans le vouloir, je me suis retrouvé devant le magasin. / Without meaning to, I found myself in front of the store.

Plus que Parfait: Tu t'étais trompé de rue. / You had taken the wrong street.

Passé Antérieur: Quand ils se furent retournés, ils découvrirent un incroyable panorama. / Once they had turned around, they saw an incredible vista.

Futur Antérieur: Une fois que nous nous serons garés, nous pourrons aller au cinéma. / Once we will have parked, we will be able to go to the movie theater.

Subjonctif Passé: Il aurait fallu que nous nous soyons lancés plus tôt. / We should have started sooner.

Subjonctif Plus que Parfait: Que je me fusse trompé devint vite clair. / That I had been wrong quickly became clear.

Impératif: Ne sois pas trompé! / Don't be fooled!

InfinitifPassé: Aller au bal sans _s'_être laver, c'est courir au désastre. / Going to the ball without having washed, is risking disaster.

Gérondif Passé: _S'_étant approché de la voiture, il vit que le conducteur était ivre. / Having gotten close to the car, he saw that the diver was drunk

group II, Verbs that end in -ir conjugated with AVOIR

Compound tenses/Indicatif

Compound Tenses/Subjunctive

Impératif

Infinitif Passé: avoir faibli

Gérondif Passé: ayant faibli

Examples:

Passé composé: J'ai fini mon examen. / I have finished my exam.

Plus que Parfait: Il avait choisi d'aller au restaurant. / He had chosen to go to the restaurant.

Passé Antérieur: Sans intempéries, nous eûmes attéri sans problèmes. / Without bad weather, we would have landed without trouble.

Futur Antérieur: Tu auras bien aggrandi la maison avant de t'y installer. / You will have extended the house nicely before moving in.

Subjonctif Passé: Ils t'ovationnent bien que tu n'aies pas rempli ta mission. / They cheer you even though you haven't fulfilled your mission.

Subjonctif Plus que Parfait: Il continuait à vous désobéir bien que vous l'eussiez puni plusieurs fois. / He was continuing to disobey you even though you had punished him several times.

Impératif: Aie maigri avant le marathon! / Lose weight before the marathon!

Infinitif Passé: Avant de lancer un navire, il faut l'avoir béni. / Before launching a ship, it must have been blessed.

Gérondif Passé: Ayant rempli le seau, il l'amena dans le jardin. / Having filled the bucket, he brought it to the garden.

group II, Verbs that end in -ir conjugated with ÊTRE (se dévêtir/to get undressed)

Compound tenses/Indicatif

Compound Tenses/Subjunctive

Impératif

Infinitif Passé: _s'_être dévêti(e)

Gérondif Passé: _s'_étant dévêti(e)

Examples:

Passé composé: Je me suis endurci en courant dix kilomètres par jour. / I hardened myself by running ten kilometers a day.

Plus que Parfait: Nous nous étions enfouis sous la neige pour échapper à la tempête. / We had buried ourselves under the snow to escape the storm.

Passé Antérieur: La loi fut établie avant la fin de l'année. / The law was established before the end of the year.

Futur Antérieur: Vous serez haïs avant d'être accepté. / You will be hated before being accepted.

Subjonctif Passé: Il faut que l'eau se soit refroidie avant de la verser dans la bassine. / The water must have cooled down before pouring it in the tub.

Subjonctif Plus que Parfait: Que tu te fusses bâti une cabane était très impressionnant. / That you had built yourself a cabin was very impressive.

Impératif: Soit rétabli! / Be well again!

Infinitif Passé: Aprés s'être épanouie, la fleur se fane. / After flowering, the flower wilts.

Gérondif Passé: En étant bien nourris, les cochons grossissent vite. / By being well fed, pigs fatten quickly.

group III, Verbs conjugated with AVOIR

Compound tenses/Indicatif

Compound Tenses/Subjunctive

Impératif

Infinitif Passé: avoir faibli

Gérondif Passé: ayant faibli

Examples:

Passé composé: J'ai pris l'autobus. / I took the bus.

Plus que Parfait: Tu avais ouvert la porte. / You had opened the door.

Passé Antérieur: Si je ne t'avais pas averti, tu lui eus vendu du poison. / If I had not warned you, you would have sold him poison.

Futur Antérieur: Il aura éteint la lumière avant d'aller se coucher. / He will have turned off the lights before going to bed.

Subjonctif Passé: Il faut que nous ayons acquis un permis avant la fin du moi. /We must have acquired a permit before the end of the month.

Sujonctif Plus que Parfait: Bien qu'il nous en eût fait la promesse, nous aurions dû nous en assurer. / Even though he'd made us the promise we should have checked for ourselves.

Impératif: Aie répondu avant se soir. / Have answered before tonight.

Infinitif Passé: Je ne peux pas continuer sans avoir reçu le paiement. / I can anot continue without having received payment.

Gérondif Passé: En ayant cousu le drapeau, elle redonna du moral aux troupes. / By sawing the flag, she boosted the troops's morale.

group III, Verbs conjugated with ÊTRE (revenir/to come back)

Compound tenses/Indicatif

Compound Tenses/Subjunctive

Impératif

Infinitif Passé: être revenu(e)

Gérondif Passé: étant revenu(e)

Examples:

Passé composé: Je suis revenu d'Angleterre. / I came back from England.

Plus que Parfait: Nous étions repartis pour la montagne. / We had left for the mountain again.

Passé Antérieur: Il fut battu dans sa jeunesse. / He was beaten in his youth.

Futur Antérieur: Les pourparlers seront conclus demain. / The talks will be concluded tomorrow.

Subjonctif Passé: Il faut que je sois parti avant midi. / I must be gone before noon.

Subjonctif Plus que Parfait: Avant que je fusse reçu par le commissaire, il avait fallu que je prenne rendez-vous. / Before I could meet with the police commissioner, I had had to set up a meeting.

Impératif: “Sois vaincu!” maudit le sorcier. / “Be vanquished!” said the warlock.

Infinitif Passé: On ne peut pas entrer au paradis sans être absous. / One can't get into heaven without being absolved.

Gérondif Passé: Etant descendu du cheval, je lui donnai à manger. / Having climbed down from the horse, I gave him something to eat.

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